Production is peaking at Tomales Bay Pastures, where owner Morgan Giammona wakes at 5 a.m. to collect fresh eggs. With 16 hours of daylight and many tasty bugs in the grass, the productivity of the farm’s egg-laying hens has jumped to 90 percent from 75 percent in the winter. To protect his hens from coyotes and bobcats, Morgan erected electric netting. The number-one predator now comes from the sky—golden eagles—but seven Great Pyrenees help reduce the losses. “I wouldn’t be in business if I didn’t have these dogs,” he said. “Eventually, the eagles get tired of being harassed and they go find something else.”
Recent rains and cold temperatures came at a stressful time for Stubbs Vineyards, just at bud break, when the soft, fuzzy plant buds awaken. Long downpours can cause flowers to shed, and frost damages young fruit. But the vines seem to have survived the unusual weather. After several nerve-wracking weeks, “We’re not biting our nails anymore,” said owner Mary Stubbs. The vineyard’s setting—the cool, sheltered lands near Wilson Hill and Chileno Valley—is challenging during a cold, wet spring, but the microclimate produces pinot noir and chardonnay wines with unique flavors and complexity.
Bees, their legs coated in pollen, are flying from flower to hive and back again at Heidrun Meadery in Point Reyes Station. Spring rains were a blessing, delaying the need for irrigation and ensuring a succession of blooms. Radish, a ubiquitous invasive species, is unpopular in many gardens, but Heidrun’s owner, Gordon Hull, appreciates how it feeds the bees. Two other plant species planted in winter—meadowfoam and clover—faced tough competition from tall grasses; next year, they’ll be planted in the spring. Now that grasses have gone to seed, the soil can be tilled and reseeded with wildflowers for August and September blooms. There isn’t much native food for bees in late summer, so the farmed forage is essential.